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Recent News

Francisco Cervelli homered and walked Thursday in a losing cause against the Yankees.

Cervelli likes flexing those muscles in spring training; he has 12 homers in 152 Grapefruit League at-bats the last five years, compared to 15 in 1,188 regular-season at-bats in the same timeframe. He's on the lower rung of fantasy catchers now because of his lack of power and his durability issues. Mar 15 - 5:29 PM

The Pirates have shut down Francisco Cervelli (quad) for the remainder of the regular season.

Cervelli suffered a quad injury in late August and the team doesn't want him to push things with only 12 games on the calendar. "The reality is we've run out of time," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. He'll finish the year with a .249/.342/.370 batting line with five homers and 31 RBI over 81 games. His salary jumps to $10.5 million next year. Mon, Sep 18, 2017 04:00:00 PM

Cervelli is determined to return this season and did some some squatting on Friday with that goal in mind, but he's quickly running out of time. The veteran backstop has been sidelined since late August with a quad injury. He's been limited to just 81 games this season. Mon, Sep 18, 2017 01:45:00 PM

Francisco Cervelli (quad) took live batting practice and ran the bases on Wednesday, and could return to the Pirates before the end of the 2017 season.

Cervelli has been on the disabled list since August 26 with the quad injury, and had a setback that changed his expected return date from September 5 to undetermined. That return date is still undetermined, but it looks more likely that he'll get a chance to play after participating on Wednesday. Wed, Sep 13, 2017 07:02:00 PM

Depth Charts

Jordy Mercer struck out all three times he was up Monday against the Orioles.

Mercer is off to a 3-for-19 start, not that it matters much. He might be entering his last season in Pittsburgh, as he'll be a free agent next winter, but he's at no risk of losing playing time as the team's starting shortstop.

MBC Sports+ in Korea reports that Jung Ho Kang has entered the Dominican Republic in order to apply for a United States work visa.

Kang was previously denied a visa by the U.S. Embassy in Korea due to his third DUI arrest, but he's hoping to be granted one by the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. It's unclear at this point whether he has any real chance of getting approved. Pirates general manager Neil Huntington said in December that he did not expect Kang to return to the team.

Joe Musgrove allowed two runs in 2 2/3 innings and struck out five against the Yankees in his spring debut Thursday.

Musgrove got himself into trouble by walking three, but he allowed just one hit. Musgrove had been sidelined by shoulder soreness since the beginning of the spring, but it's all systems go now and, barring a setback, he should be ready to make a start during the first week of the regular season.

Tyler Glasnow (illness) is starting Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates.

Glasnow had flu-like symptoms that caused him to be scratched on March 12, and he hasn't been on the mound since March 7 for the Pirates. He'll look to improve on his ugly 11.74 ERA so far in Florida, but barring an injury he's likely ticketed for Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the season.

Pirates LHP Nik Turley was suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for performance-enhancing substance Ipamorelin.

Turley was just claimed off waivers from the Twins in November, and now his Pirates debut will have to wait. He made his major league debut in 2017, posting an ugly 11.21 ERA in 10 appearances. His suspension will begin at the start of the season.